Eagles, 'Horns meet 2020 top three finishers at state
LINCOLN, Neb. — Boys' state tournament pairings were officially set this afternoon as the Southern Valley Eagles will get a rematch of last year's state semifinal against Humphrey Lindsay Holy Family on Wednesday, March 9.
The Class D-1 No. 7 Eagles (19-4 record) take on No. 2 HLHF (20-5) at 4 p.m. in Lincoln Southeast High School. Last March, Southern Valley was seeded sixth but took down No. 2 HLHF at Lincoln's Pinnacle Bank Arena en route to the D-1 state championship game.
HLHF rebounded from a subdistrict finals loss last week vs. Howells-Dodge, 53-49, and trounced Perkins County, 71-29, for the state tournament spot Saturday night.
Southern Valley scored a 50-44 district finals victory over Bruning-Davenport-Shickley Monday evening.
Whoever prevails will play No. 3 North Platte St. Patrick's (21-5) or No. 6 Ansley-Litchfield (20-4) in a Thursday, March 10 semifinal at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Opening tip time will also be 4 p.m.
The other D-1 quarterfinals feature No. 1 Burwell (24-0) vs. No. 8 Central Valley (17-6) and No. 4 Howell-Dodge (18-8) vs. No. 5 Walthill (19-4).
Class D-1's title game takes place at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 13.
Ironically, the Chase County Longhorns are a No. 7 seed just like Southern Valley and start C2 state play against No. 2 Yutan (22-2) at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 9. The game will be in Lincoln Northeast High's gymnasium.
The Yutan Chieftains took third among all C-2 teams last season. They dropped a triple-overtime semifinal to Grand Island Central Catholic, 47-46, but regrouped for the 39-30 conquest of Sutton.
Eaten brings a 14-game winning streak into this year's state tourney. The Chieftains haven't fallen since a 55-53 defeat at Mead on January 8. They whipped West Holt, 62-38, for a district title Monday night.
Chase County (16-8) went 6-0 through February capped with the 71-55 district finals victory over Amherst Saturday night at McCook High School.
Whoever wins Chase-Yutan will meet No. 3 Bridgeport (23-2) or No. 6 BRLD (18-4) for an 8:30 p.m. semifinal on Thursday, March 10 at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
The C-2 title game is set for 8:45 p.m. on Saturday, March 13.
Grand Island CC (22-4) owns the C-2 seed and those Crusaders tangle with No. 8 Tri County (20-5). No. 4 Freeman (21-4) and No. 5 Hartington Cedar Catholic (19-6) complete the C-2 state field.
Watch for more details at mccookgazette.com